VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – An Indiana Army veteran has testified in court that he was hired by a Florida man to kill the man’s wife and her 7-year-old son in Virginia.
The Virginian-Pilot reports 43-year-old Richard Stoner told the court Thursday how Christopher Schmidt hired him and planned the 2004 slaying of 29-year-old Lois Schmidt and Jonathan Vetrano.
Stoner said the two men were shooting guns in a Florida field when the 46-year-old Schmidt mentioned wanting to shoot his wife. The Schmidts were divorcing and fighting over custody of their 1-year-old daughter.
Stoner testified that he killed Lois Schmidt, her son from another marriage and a dog and wounded her brother and then set their home on fire.
Stoner and Schmidt were arrested in June on charges of first-degree murder and extradited to Virginia.
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